LONDON – British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday defended her decision to call an early election for next month, saying it would strengthen the government’s hand in negotiations to leave the European Union.
May dismissed criticism of her move to send voters back to polling booths for the third time in two years, after a May 2015 national election and a June 2016 referendum on EU membership.
She said that “Brexit isn’t just about the letter that says we want to leave. It’s about … getting the right deal from Europe.”
Britain’s next national election is currently scheduled for 2020, a year after the scheduled completion of two years of EU exit talks.
READ MORE: British Prime Minister Theresa May calls election for June 8
May told The Sun newspaper that if Britain were still negotiating with the bloc in the run-up to a national election, “the Europeans might have seen that as a time of weakness when they could push us.”
An early ballot will give the prime minister – or her replacement – more time to implement Brexit before another election.
May also told the BBC that her political opponents were intent on “frustrating the Brexit process” – even after Parliament authorized divorce talks with the EU.
May’s Conservatives currently hold 330 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. Opinion polls give them a big lead over the Labour opposition, and May is gambling that an election will deliver her a personal mandate from voters and produce a bigger Conservative majority in Parliament.
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The House of Commons will vote later Wednesday on whether to support May’s call for a snap election on June 8.
Under British electoral law, May needs the backing of two-thirds of lawmakers. She will likely get it, since Labour has welcomed the early election.
If the election is approved Wednesday, Parliament will be dissolved on May 2, sparking almost six weeks of campaigning.
May ruled out participating in televised debates with other leaders. TV debates don’t have a long history in British politics, but were a feature of the last two elections, in 2010 and 2015.
“We won’t be doing television debates,” May said, adding that politicians should spend election campaigns “out and about” meeting voters.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said that broadcasters should hold debates anyway, with an empty chair in May’s place.
“The prime minister’s attempt to dodge scrutiny shows how she holds the public in contempt,” he said.
VIDEO: U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May calls snap election